I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an oil change aid device which permits removing the drain plug located in the bottom of the oil pan of any device having waste oil and particulars, removing the open plug of the internal combustion engine of an automobile or truck and draining the oil without soiling hands or clothing. A flexible plastic sheet forms a container impervious to oil attached to a circular stiffener which when held adjacent to a drain plug permits both withdrawing the drain plug and capturing the initial rush of drain oil which would otherwise soil hands and garments.
II. Description of the Prior Art
There are a number of devices which permit removing the drain plug in the oil pan of a vehicle or capturing the oil in the pan or both. In general devices which permit removal of the drain plug are generally relatively complex with a number of parts. The devices which are used to capture the oil, whether as a part of the drain plug remover or separately, are sized to collect all of the drain oil and not merely a quantity adequate to permit removing one's hand and arm from the vicinity of the drain plug without being soiled by the drain oil. In Higgins et al, U.S. Pat. No. 1,686,749 a pan supports a driving mechanism which is sized to fit over a drain plug when the pan is resting on the floor beneath the drain plug with a crank and shaft engaging the opposite end of the driving mechanism through a pair of spur gears.
In Mantel, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,478 a special plug and body are substituted for a conventional drain plug in an oil pan. The new body can receive and hold a disposable oil bag which captures all of the drain oil. In O'Connell, U.S. Pat. No. 4,022,257 a funnel shaped drain device collects drain oil and routes the oil through an outlet in a side wall into a removable receptacle.
In Black U.S. Pat. No. 4,064,969 a bag held open by a structure can be placed beneath an oil pan to receive all of the drain oil through the opening and contain the oil within the bag. In Garrison U.S. Pat. No. 4,198,710 a generally rectangular shaped fill spout consisting of a frame covered with a flexible member drains into a flat pan all of which can be placed under a vehicle to receive the waste engine oil.
In the removal of an oil filter, in Klasel, U.S. Pat. No. 4,020,922 an adapter is fitted around the lower portion of an engine block over an oil filter and the adapter is used to hold a disposable plastic bag which permits rotating the bag to remove the oil filter. In Pfetzing, U.S. Pat. No. 2,746,330 a wrench is pivotably and slideably mounted in the center of a container. The container is large enough to enclose an oil filter and the filter can be loosened while the container is in place over the filter to contain the engine oil.
No prior art known to me provides the combination of attributes of the present invention, namely a reusable container with no moving parts which permits removing an oil plug while protecting the mechanic from the dirty hot waste oil.